--- title: "Trademark Licensing | Pitch" description: "Licence your brand to a partner, franchisee or distributor and keep control of quality, territory and the mark itself." url: https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-licensing --- [pitch](https://www.pitch.law/) [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions) [Commercial](https://www.pitch.law/solution-categories/commercial) # Trademark Licensing Licence your brand to a partner, franchisee or distributor and keep control of quality, territory and the mark itself. - 360 stage: Commercialize ## The question Someone wants to use your brand: a distributor in another country, a manufacturer producing under your mark, a co-branding partner, a franchisee. Or you want to use a brand that belongs to someone else. A trademark licence can turn a brand into revenue and reach, but it can also weaken the mark if it is badly structured. The questions we hear most often are these. Should the licence be exclusive, sole or non-exclusive? Which goods and which territory does it cover? How do we keep control of quality? What happens to the licensee's stock at the end? And does the licence need to be recorded anywhere? Typical situations are a distributor or franchisee asking for the right to use the brand, a manufacturer who will apply the mark to goods, a co-branding partnership, a group restructuring in which a subsidiary needs to use the parent's marks, and the reverse case in which you are the licensee and want to know what you are agreeing to. ## Our approach We begin with the commercial objective, because the structure should follow it. A licence that aims at maximum royalty income looks different from one that opens a market or extends a brand into a new product range. We also check the rights behind the licence: whether the mark is registered for the relevant goods and services and territories, who the registered owner is, and whether the mark is vulnerable, for example through non-use. Where the position is unclear, we start with a [trademark clearance](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-clearance) or a review of the register. The licence terms then cover the points that decide its value: scope (goods and services, territory, exclusivity, sublicensing), quality control, ownership of the goodwill and of any adaptations, royalties with reporting and audit rights, duration and termination, and what the licensee must do with stock and materials when it ends. Quality control is not a courtesy. A proprietor who licenses a mark without any control risks the mark becoming misleading to the public, and so open to revocation. Our article on [licensing agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) explains the structural choices in more detail. Registered licences carry practical weight. Under Article 25 of the EU Trade Mark Regulation, for instance, a licensee may bring infringement proceedings only with the proprietor's consent, unless it is an exclusive licensee and the proprietor does not act after formal notice. Licences and assignments can be recorded at the EUIPO and at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, which also affects how far they can be relied on against third parties. See [transferring and licensing a trademark](https://www.pitch.law/academy/trademark-transfer-licensing-recordals). We draft the licence with [our Document Studio](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio), which starts from our house style and pulls party details into the document. Once the licence is signed, [the rights and obligations register](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) extracts the duties of each party, with the clause they come from, and tracks reminders for reporting dates, notice periods and option windows. A lawyer confirms each entry. A typical case: a Mechelen food brand wants a distributor in France to sell under its mark. We check the registrations for France, draft an exclusive licence for that territory with brand guidelines and sample approval, and advise on recording the licence. After signature, the register reminds both sides of the reporting dates and of the date by which the licence must be renewed or ended. Before drafting, we agree with you on the essentials in a short term sheet: the goods and services, the territory, exclusivity, the royalty model and the quality standards. A short brand-guidelines annex is usually part of the package, so that the licensee knows exactly how the mark may be shown. ## What you get - a trademark licence agreement, or a coexistence or co-branding agreement, drafted for your side; - brand guidelines and quality-control provisions that can be enforced in practice; - advice on whether and where the licence should be recorded, and the recordal itself; - a register of obligations and dates, so that royalty reports, audits and renewals do not slip; - a review of the licensee's draft if the other side holds the pen. The attorney decides on the structure (exclusive or not, sublicensing or not), on which quality-control rights are realistic, and on whether to record the licence. Our platform drafts and tracks, but these choices are made by a lawyer with you. ## Next step If you plan to license a brand, or have received a licence proposal, send us the term sheet or the draft. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule) and we will go through the structure with you. ## In short - Licence scope fixed: goods, territory, exclusivity - Quality control built in, as the law expects - Licence recorded against the registration - Royalty, audit and reporting duties tracked - Clean exit and clear rules on stock ## Technology we use - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) ### [Document Studio](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) [Our Document Studio drafts and analyses legal documents in a secure, on-premise environment, and keeps the documents behind your matters up to date as new data comes in and procedural steps fall due.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) ### [Contract Management: Rights and Obligations](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) [Once a contract is final, we pull out each party's duties and rights with the clause they come from, have a person confirm them, and follow them with reminders.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) ## Background reading - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/trademark-transfer-licensing-recordals) ### [Transferring and Licensing a Trademark](https://www.pitch.law/academy/trademark-transfer-licensing-recordals) [How assignments and licences of EU and Benelux trademarks work, why they should be recorded, and how customs recordals fit in.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/trademark-transfer-licensing-recordals) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) ### [Licensing Agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) [How to structure an IP licence: scope, royalties, improvements, quality control, termination, and the EU rules that frame it.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/licensing-agreements) ## More in Commercial - ### [Patent and Technology Licensing](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-technology-licensing) [Licence or acquire patents, know-how and software on terms that protect your edge, your income and your competition-law position.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-technology-licensing) - ### [Data Licensing and Data Sharing](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/data-licensing-sharing) [Licence or share data with a clear scope, settled ownership of derived data, privacy safeguards and terms that protect its value.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/data-licensing-sharing) - ### [Commercial Contracts & Transactions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/commercial-contracts-transactions) [Supply, distribution, services, SaaS and procurement contracts, and the deals around them, drafted and reviewed with the IP, data and tax angles in view.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/commercial-contracts-transactions) ## Let’s talk Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll get the right person on it and reply within one business day. The first chat is free. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule)